Not By Bread Alone

 Full transparency, after studying this book of the bible more, I'm starting to wonder why I wanted to start with it. Don't get me wrong, I still love this book. But as I follow along with commentary on it and really think about it, I can see how if you don't keep the entire point in the back of your head (life is only good with God), then this book can be quite depressing. But, we push on. Reading my thoughts might not be helping you (as in, the 3 people reading this) but it is helping me. Some people hand write the Bible so that they can digest it better. Well, I hate my handwriting and I would never stick to this, but I can type pretty quickly and typing out my thoughts really makes me think over each section more. Love that I can have this to look back on. Chapter 7- WISDOM. ok, we can all use a bit of that, amiright? verses 1-12 are talking about a better life. verse one says "a good name is better than fine perfume..." a good name is referring to a good repu...

 Well, hello. Welcome Back. Today we are reading chapters 3-6. And what we aren't talking about is how many times I have to look at my Bible to remember how to actually spell Ecclesiastes. I will get it eventually, right? First off, let's talk Bible translations. I'm using NIV. New International Version. I feel like this is the easiest translation to understand. and the least intimidating. When I switched to NIV, I finally felt like I could (mostly) understand what I was reading.....there isn't a "thou" in sight. So if you are having trouble reading your Bible, check out a different version and see if it helps. Now, let's get into it. Did you go back and read chapters 1 and 2? I hope so. That's like, the entire point. Chapter 3 is titled "A Time for Everything". It's slightly strange that Solomon is saying there is a time for hate and a time for war, because those aren't good, right? But he's saying there is a time for hate becaus...

 Why does no one talk about Ecclesiastes? I don't think I have really ever heard anyone mention it much, as if it's a forgotten book of the bible. But let me tell you, IT IS GOLDEN. I honestly think this might be my favorite book of the bible. There's so much good stuff in it.  Let's look at chapters 1 and 2.  Author of Ecclesiastes : most scholars believe that it was written by Solomon Well, who is Solomon? Solomon was the 3rd king of Israel, son of King David and Bathsheba. He was famous for being very wise and also very rich. Chapter 1 starts out telling us that everything is meaningless. In fact, my Bible has a subtitle for chapter 1:1-11 that says "Everything is meaningless". Does this feel odd to see in the bible? It does for me. Because life isn't meaningless to me. I have purpose, I have a reason for being here. This is probably why I was immediately intrigued.  Maybe you sometimes feel this way? That life is meaningless or that you are going nowh...

 Matthew 4:4 says: Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God'." This actually originally came from Deuteronomy 8:3, which says: He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. So what does this mean? that we can't live off just carbs? NO. It has nothing to do with carbs, silly, despite the fact that most people think carbs are bad..... Moses was reminding the Israelites (in Deuteronomy) that physical food sustains your body, but the bible, with God's promises, truly sustains your life. So yes, we need food, but we NEED GOD'S WORD. In Matthew, when Jesus quoted this, he was actually talking to Satan. Jesus had been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, and he was hungry. (This also points towards his humanit...